Not by Humans Alone: Environments of Marginal Significance in Late Imperial China and Beyond

The panel considers the historical significance of human ties with key elements of surrounding environments, particularly terrain and fauna, for a more diversified study of Late Imperial China across its geographic and cultural margins. These elements are analyzed as manifestations of dynamic conditions not fully subject to human control and so require adaptive responses from people. So, Manchu identity depends in part on fulfilling the needs of garrison horses for pasturage in China proper; the ecological dynamics of Yangzi upstream clearance create partly insoluble administrative problems downstream; long distance human commercial caravan traffic linking Burma and China needs mules, who in turn need their muleteers to be more vets than merchants; the Wuling mountains at Guizhou and Huguang help keep indigenous Miao identity free of full Ming imperial authority, weighed down by the dynasty’s “Southern Great Wall.” The discussant will provide further context to show how the products of such relations resonate beyond the Late Imperial period into the twentieth century. Overall, the panel adopts more environmentally inclusive perspectives linking China proper to its borderlands to show how cultural significance is, often inadvertently, realized “not by humans alone.”Jack P Hayes did the Introduction & was a Panel Discussant. Association of Asian Studies Annual Meeting (Spring 2014). Philadelphia, PA